Spain

src: ichef.bbci.co.uk

Spanish (Spanish: EspaÃÆ'  ± a [ es'pa? a] Ã, ( listen ) ), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spain: Reino de Espaà ± a ), is a sovereign state most of which is in Iberian Peninsula in Europe. The country's land is bordered by the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small border with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. The Spanish territory includes two large islands, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands off the Atlantic coast of Africa, two cities, Ceuta and Melilla, on the African mainland and several small islands in the Alboran Sea near the coast of Africa. Spain is the only European country that has a border with the African country (Morocco).

With an area of ​​505,990 km ² (195,360 sqÃ, mi), Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country on the Continent. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. The capital of Spain and the largest city is Madrid; Other major urban areas include Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Sevilla, MÃÆ'¡laga and Bilbao.

Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula about 35,000 years ago. The Iberian culture along with the Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian settlements grew on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BC, after which it was named , based on the earlier Phoenician name Sp (A) n or Spania . At the end of the Western Roman Empire, the tribal Confederation of Germany migrated from Central Europe, invaded the Iberian peninsula and built a relatively independent region in the western provinces, including Sueves, Alans and Vandals. In the end, the Visigoth will forcibly integrate all the remaining independent territories on the peninsula, including Byzantine province, into the Toledo Kingdom, which more or less unites politically, ecclesiastically and legally all former Roman provinces or successors of what was later documented as Hispania..

At the beginning of the eighth century the Visigothic kingdom fell to the Moors, who arrived to take control of most of the peninsula in 726, leaving only a handful of small Christian territories in the north, lasting up to seven centuries in the Kingdom of Granada. This left many wars during a long surveillance period across the Iberian Peninsula, which led to the creation of the Kingdom of Leon, the Kingdom of Castille, the Kingdom of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre as the principal Christian kingdom to confront the invasion. After the Moorish conquest, Europe began a gradual process of recapturing the area known as the Reconquista, which by the end of the 15th century culminated in the emergence of Spain as a united state under the Catholic Monarchy. At the beginning of the modern period, the Spanish Golden Era expanded, when Spain became one of the first global empires in history due to Spanish colonization in America, leaving a vast cultural and linguistic heritage that spans over 500 million Hispanics, making Spanish the second in the world the most widely spoken, after the Mandarin language.

Spain is a secular parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state. It is a major developed country and a high-income country, with the world's 14th largest economy with nominal GDP and the sixteenth largest with purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), Euro Zone, Council of Europe (CoE), Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), Union for Mediterranean, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD), OSCE, Schengen Area, World Trade Organization (WTO) and many other international organizations. Spain has a "permanent invitation" to the G20 summit that happens generally once a year.

Video Spain

Etymology

The origin of the Roman name Hispania , from which the modern name EspaÃÆ' Â ± a is derived, is uncertain due to insufficient evidence, though it is documented that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians refer to the region as Spania , therefore the most accepted etymology is Semitic-Phoenician. Over the centuries there have been a number of accounts and hypotheses:

The Renaissance scholar Antonio de Nebrija proposed that the word evolved from the Iberian word Hispalis , meaning "western world city".

JesÃÆ'ºs Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the term span is the Phoenician word spy , meaning "to forge metal". Therefore, i-spn-ya will mean "ground where metal is forged". It may be a derivative of Phoenician I-Shpania , meaning "rabbit island", "rabbit land" or "edge", a reference to the Spanish site at the tip of the Mediterranean; Roman coins struck the region from Hadrian's reign showing female figures with rabbits at his feet, and Strabo referred to him as "the country of rabbits".

Hispania might be derived from the poetic use of the term Hesperia , reflecting the Greek perception of Italy as "western land" or "sunset land" , ??????? in Greek) and Spanish, which are still more west, such as the ultimate Hesperia .

There is a claim that "Hispania" is derived from the Basque word Ezpanna meaning "edge" or "border", another reference to the fact that the Iberian Peninsula is the southwest corner of the European continent.

Two fifteenth-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, provide an explanation which is now considered folkloric. The two men wrote in two different works published that the first Jews who reached Spain were taken aboard by Phiros who conspired with the king of Babylon as he besieged Jerusalem. Phiros was a Greek at birth, but who had been given a kingdom in Spain. Phiros became associated with marriage with Espan, the nephew of King Heracles, who also ruled a kingdom in Spain. Heracles then abandoned his throne in preference to his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his niece, Espan, from whom the country of EspaÃÆ' Â ± a (Spain) takes its name. Based on their testimony, this eponymus will already be used in Spain by c. 350 BC.

Maps Spain

History

Iberia incorporated written records as a land largely inhabited by Iberians, Basques and Celtic. At the beginning of the coastal region was inhabited by Phoenicians who founded the most western cities of Europe, Cadiz and Malaga. The influence of Phoenicia became widespread because the Peninsula was finally incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming the main theater of the Punist War against the widespread Roman Empire. After a difficult conquest, the peninsula was entirely under Roman rule. During the early Middle Ages it came under the rule of Germany but later, many were conquered by the Moorish invaders of North Africa. In a process that took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control over the peninsula. The last Moorish Empire fell in the same year Columbus reached America. A global empire began to see Spain become the most powerful kingdom in Europe, the world's foremost powers for a century and a half, and the greatest foreign empire for three centuries.

Continued war and other problems eventually lead to reduced status. The Spanish Napoleonic invasion caused chaos, sparking a movement of independence that tore through most of the empire and left the country politically unstable. Before the Second World War, Spain underwent a devastating civil war and was under authoritarian government control, which oversaw a period of stagnation followed by a spurt of economic growth. Finally, democracy is restored peacefully in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joins the EU, experiencing cultural revival and steady economic growth until the early 21st century, which started a new global world with economic and ecological challenges.

Prehistory and pre-Roman people

Archaeological research in Atapuerca shows the Iberian Peninsula inhabited by hominids 1.2 million years ago. In the fossil Atapuerca has found the earliest known hominins in Europe, Homo antecessor. Modern man first arrived in Iberia, from the north on foot, about 35,000 years ago. The most famous artifact of this prehistoric human settlement is the famous painting in the cave of Altamira Cantabria in northern Iberia, made from 35,600 to 13,500 BC by Cro-Magnon. Archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that the Iberian Peninsula acts as one of the few main refugees from which northern Europe came back to life after the end of the last ice age.

The largest group that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula before the Roman conquest were Iberia and Celtic. Iberia inhabits the Mediterranean side of the peninsula, from the northeast to the southeast. The Celtic peoples inhabit most of the inner and Atlantic sides of the peninsula, from northwest to southwest. The Basques occupy the western regions of the Pyrenees and surrounding mountains, the Phoenician-influenced Tartessian culture flourished in the southwest and areas occupied by Lusitanians and Vettones in the central west. A number of cities were established along the coast by the Phoenicians, and trading of outposts and colonies was founded by the Greeks in the East. Eventually, the Phoenician-Carthaginians expanded inland to the meseta, but due to the spicy inland tribes, the Carthaginians settled on the shores of the Iberian Peninsula.

Spanish lingua franca - evolved from vulgar Latin, as did other Spanish Romance languages such as Catalan, Asturian and Galician, as well as other Roman languages ​​in Latin Europe. The Basque, the only non-Romantic language in Spain, continued to evolve from the Early Basques into the Middle Ages. The Glosas Emilianenses founded in the monasteries of San MillÃÆ'¡n de la Cogolla contain the first written words in both Basques and Spanish, having the first to be influenced in the second formation as a Latin evolution.

The 13th century also witnessed the Crown of Aragon, centered in northeastern Spain, extending its reach across the Mediterranean islands, to Sicily and even Athens. Around this time the universities of Palencia (1212/1263) and Salamanca (1218/1254) were founded. The Black Death of 1348 and 1349 destroyed Spain.

The Kingdom of Spain

In 1469, the crown of the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon was united by the marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. 1478 began the settlement of the conquest of the Canary Islands and in 1492, the combined forces of Castile and Aragon captured the Granada Emirate from its last ruler Muhammad XII, ending the last remaining of the 781-year presence of Islamic rule in Iberia. That same year, the Spanish Jews were ordered to convert to Catholicism or face expulsion from the Spanish territories during the Spanish Inquisition. The Treaty of Granada guarantees religious tolerance to Muslims, for several years before Islam was banned in 1502 in the Kingdom of Castile and 1527 in the Kingdom of Aragon, causing the Muslim population of Spain to become a nominal Christian Moriscos. Several decades after the Moriscos revolt in Granada known as the Alpujarras War, most of the formerly Muslim population of Spain was driven out, settled mainly in North Africa.

The year 1492 also marks the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World, during a voyage funded by Isabella. The first voyage of Columbus crossed the Atlantic and reached the Caribbean Islands, embarking on European exploration and conquest in America, although Columbus remained convinced that he had reached the East. American colonization began, with conquistadores like HernÃÆ'¡n CortÃÆ'Â © s and Francisco Pizarro. Miscegenation is the rule between indigenous people and the people and culture of Spain.

As the Renaissance New Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand concentrated the power of the kingdom at the expense of the local nobility, and the word EspaÃÆ' Â ± a , whose root was the ancient name , began to be commonly used to designate all two kingdoms. With his extensive political, legal, religious and military reforms, Spain emerged as the world's first power.

The unification of the crowns of Aragon and Castile by their sovereign marriage laid the foundations for modern Spain and the Spanish Empire, though every Spanish kingdom remained a socially, politically, legally and socially separate state, in terms of currency and language.

There were two great rebellions against the new Habsburg king and the more authoritarian and imperial crown: Revolt of the Comuneros in Castile and Revolt of the Brotherhoods in Majorca and Valencia. After years of fighting, Comuneros Juan LÃÆ'³pez de Padilla, Juan Bravo and Francisco Maldonado were executed and MarÃÆ'a Pacheco went into exile. Germana de Foix also finished with a revolt in the Mediterranean.

Spain was a major European force throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position reinforced by trade and wealth from colonial possessions and becoming the world's leading maritime power. This reached its peak during the reign of the first two Habsburg Spanish - Charles I (1516-1556) and Philip II (1556-1598). This period saw the Italian War, the Revolt of the Comuneros, the Dutch Revolt, the Morisco Revolt, clashing with the Ottomans, the Anglo-Spanish War and the war with France.

Through the exploration and conquest or alliance of marriage and the royal heritage, the Spanish Empire expanded to cover large areas of America, the islands of the Asia-Pacific region, the territories of Italy, the cities of North Africa, as well as parts of what is now France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The first voyage around the world was done in 1519-1521. It was the first kingdom that the sun never set. This is the Age of Discovery, with bold exploration by sea and land, the opening of new trade routes across the oceans, the conquest and the beginning of European colonialism. Spanish explorers brought back precious metals, herbs, luxuries, and plants previously unknown, and played a major role in changing Europe's understanding of the world. The cultural prosperity witnessed during this period is now referred to as the Spanish Golden Age. The expansion of the empire led to a major upheaval in America because of the collapse of society and the new imperial and European ills that destroyed Native Americans. The emergence of humanism, Counter-Reformation and the discoveries of new geography and conquest raised issues addressed by the intellectual movement now known as the School of Salamanca, which developed the first modern theory of what is now known as international law and human rights. Juan Luis Vives was another prominent humanist during this period.

At the end of the 16th century and the first half of the seventeenth century, Spain was faced with an unrelenting challenge from all sides. The Barbary pirates, under the auspices of the rapidly growing Ottoman Empire, disrupted life in many coastal areas through their slave attacks and new threats from the Islamic invasions. This is at a time when Spain is often at war with France.

The Protestant Reformation dragged the kingdom deeper into a religiously charged war. The result is a country that is forced to expand military efforts across Europe and in the Mediterranean.

In the mid-decade of the war-torn and plagued 17th century, the Spanish Habsburg has been involved in political-religious conflicts across the continent. These conflicts drain resources and damage the economy in general. Spain succeeded in defending the vast majority of the dispersed Habsburg empire, and assisted the imperial forces of the Holy Roman Empire reversing most of the progress made by Protestant forces, but was eventually forced to recognize the separation of Portugal (with whom united in private crowns from 1580 to 1640) and the Netherlands , and ended up experiencing some serious military setbacks to France in the final stage of the devastating European Thirty Year War.

In the second half of the seventeenth century Spain experienced a gradual decline, in which it handed some small territories to France and the Netherlands; however, it retained and enlarged its vast foreign kingdom, which remained intact until the early nineteenth century.

The decline culminated in the controversy about the succession of the throne consumed in the first years of the 18th century. The War of Spanish Succession is a vast international conflict combined with civil war, and must sacrifice its European empire and its position as one of the main forces on the Continent. During this war, a new dynasty from France, Bourbon, was installed. Long united only by the Crown, a true Spanish state was founded when the first Bourbon King, Philip V, united the Castile and Aragon crowns into one country, wiped out many privileges and laws of the old region.

The 18th century saw a gradual recovery and increased prosperity through many empires. The new Bourbon Monarchy refers to the French system of modernization of administration and economy. Enlightenment ideas began to gain strength among some royal elite and monarchy. Military assistance to the rebellious British colonies in the American War of Independence enhanced the international status of the kingdom.

Liberalism, labor movement and nation state

In 1793, Spain went to war against the revolutionary new French Republic as a member of the first Coalition. The ensuing war of the Pyrenees polarized the country in reaction to the gallicised elite and following defeat in the field, peace was made with France in 1795 in the Peace of Basel in which Spain lost control of two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. The Prime Minister, Manuel Godoy, then ensured that Spain allied with France in the Third Coalition War which ended with England's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In 1807, a secret agreement between Napoleon and the unpopular prime minister led to a new declaration of war against England and Portugal. Napoleon's forces entered the country to attack Portugal but instead occupied the great castles of Spain. The scorned Spanish king surrendered in favor of Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte.

Joseph Bonaparte is seen as a puppet king and is considered a scorn by the Spaniards. The Revolution of May 2, 1808 was one of many nationalist uprisings across the country against the Bonapartist regime. This revolt marked the start of a devastating war of independence against the Napoleonic regime. Napoleon was forced to personally intervene, defeat some Spanish soldiers and force the British army to retreat. However, further military action by Spanish soldiers, guerrillas, and British-Portuguese troops of Wellington, combined with the invasion of Napoleonic disaster into Russia, led to the exclusion of French imperial troops from Spain in 1814, and the return of King Ferdinand VII.

During the war, in 1810, a revolutionary body, Cortes of CÃÆ'¡diz, was gathered to coordinate efforts against the Bonapartist regime and prepare a constitution. It meets as one body, and its members represent the entire kingdom of Spain. In 1812, a constitution for universal representation under the constitutional monarchy was declared, but after the fall of the Bonapartist regime, Ferdinand VII abolished Cortes Generales and determined to rule as an absolute king. These events mark the conflict between conservatives and liberals in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The Spanish conquest by France favored Latin American anti-colonialists who hated the Spanish-Imperial Government's favored Spanish (Peninsular) policy of those born overseas (Criollos) and demanded a reversal of sovereignty to the people. Beginning in 1809, Spanish colonies in America began a series of revolutions and declared independence, leading to a Spanish war of independence that ended Spanish control of its colonies on the American mainland. King Ferdinand VII's efforts to reassert control proved futile as he faced opposition not only in the colonies but also in Spain and an army rebellion followed, led by liberal officers. By the end of 1826, the only Spanish colonies owned by Spain were Cuba and Puerto Rico.

The Napoleonic Wars left Spain economically disintegrating, deeply divided and politically unstable. In the 1830s and 1840s, anti-liberal forces known as the Carlis fought against liberals in the Carlist War. Liberal forces win, but the conflict between progressive and conservative liberals ends in a weak initial constitutional period. After the Great Revolution of 1868 and the first short-lived Spanish Republic, a more stable monarch period began to be characterized by the practice of turnismo (the rotation of government control between progressive and conservative liberals in the Spanish government).

At the end of the 19th century nationalist movement appeared in the Philippines and Cuba. In 1895 and 1896, the Cuban War of Independence and the Philippine Revolution broke out and eventually the United States became involved. The Spanish-American War took place in the spring of 1898 and resulted in Spain losing its former colonial empire outside North Africa. El Desastre (Disaster), when the war began to be known in Spain, gave an additional boost to the '98 Generation who was conducting an analysis of the country.

Although the period around the turn of the century was one of the increase of prosperity, the 20th century brought a little peace; Spain played a small part in the struggle for Africa, with colonization of Western Sahara, Moroccan Spain and Equatorial Guinea. It remained neutral during World War I (see Spain in World War I). The huge losses suffered during the Rif War in Morocco brought a condemnation to the government and ravaged the monarchy.

Second Spanish Republic

After a period of authoritarian rule under General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-1931), the king decided to find a solution to the political situation and established the Constitution, the king presided over the city's election on 12 April 1931. This gave a glorious victory for the Republican-Socialist candidate in the city - big cities and provincial capitals, as well as the total number of board members is largely monarchic. Organized demonstrations demanded the formation of a democratic republic that caused the king to leave the country and the same proclamation on 14 April of the same year. During the Second Republic there was a great political and social upheaval, marked by sharp radicalization from the left and the right. Moderate leaders are boycotted and each party intends to create a suitable Spanish for them. During the first two years, governing coalitions of republican and socialist parties. In the elections held in 1933, the right to victory and in 1936, left. Violent acts during this period included the burning of churches, the monarchical rebellion of the militia JosÃÆ'Ã… © Sanjurjo, the 1934 Revolution and numerous attacks on competing political leaders. On the other hand, it was also during the Second Republic when important reforms began to modernize the democratic-state constitution, agrarian reform, army restructuring, the first Statute of Autonomy... -and the rights of citizens in recognition of women's right to vote,.

On 17 and 18 July 1936, rebelled against the Republican government, a Spanish military garrison of North Africa, a winning coup in the state alone. Spain is divided into two zones: one under the authority of the Republican government - where the social revolutions of 1936 - and others controlled by the rebels take place. This situation led to the Civil War, in which Francisco Franco was generally inaugurated as the supreme leader of the rebels.

Spanish Spanish Civil War and Spanish Francoist

The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. For three years the Nationalist forces led by General Francisco Franco and backed by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy fought against the Republicans, backed by the Soviet Union, Mexico and the International Brigade but not supported by Western powers because a Non-Intervention policy led by the UK. The civil war is viciously fought and there are many atrocities committed by all parties. The war claimed the lives of more than 500,000 people and led to the escape of up to half a million citizens of the country. In 1939, General Franco emerged victorious and became a dictator.

The country founded under Franco was nominally neutral in the Second World War, though sympathetic to the Axis. The only legal party under Franco's post-war civilian regime is Falange EspaÃÆ' Â ± ola Tradicionalista y de las JONS , formed in 1937; the party emphasizes phalangism, a form of fascism that emphasizes anti-communism, nationalism, and Roman Catholicism. Given Franco's opposition to competing political parties, the party was renamed the National Movement (Movimiento Nacional) in 1949.

After World War II Spain was politically and economically isolated, and kept away from the United Nations. This changed in 1955, during the Cold War period, when it became strategically important for the US to establish a military presence on the Iberian Peninsula as an obstacle to every possible step by the Soviet Union to the Mediterranean valley. In the 1960s, Spain recorded an unprecedented rate of economic growth driven by industrialization, massive internal migration from rural areas to Madrid, Barcelona and the Basque Country and the creation of the mass tourism industry. The Franco government is also characterized by authoritarianism, the promotion of national identity of unity, the very conservative form of Roman Catholicism known as National Catholicism, and discriminatory language policy.

Democratic Restoration

In 1962, a group of politicians involved in opposition to the Franco regime at home and in exile met at the European Movement congress in Munich, where they made a resolution supporting democracy.

With Franco's death in November 1975, Juan Carlos made it to the position of King of Spain and head of state in accordance with his law of pretrial. With the approval of the 1978 Spanish Constitution and the restoration of democracy, the State ceded much authority to the region and created an internal organization based on an autonomous community. The 1977 Indian Amnesty Act made the people of the Franco regime stay in institutions with no consequences, even perpetrators during the transition to democracy such as the March 3, 1976 Massacre in Vitoria or the Atocha Massacre of 1977. The founding chairman of a leading political party at the time this in Spain, the People's Party, is Manuel Fraga who was a minister in Franco's government and has not continued his political career until just before his death in 2012.

In the Basque Country, moderate Basque nationalism has coexisted with a radical nationalist movement led by the ETA armed terrorist organization. The group was formed in 1959 during Franco's reign but continues to inflame his violent campaign even after the restoration of democracy and the return of much of the regional autonomy.

On February 23, 1981, a rebel element among the security forces confiscated Cortes in an attempt to impose a military-backed government. King Juan Carlos took personal military command and succeeded in ordering a coup plot, on national television, to surrender.

During the 1980s, democratic restoration enabled an increasingly open society. New cultural movements based on emerging freedom, such as La Movida Madrileà ± a and human rights culture emerged with Gregorio Peces-Barba. On 30 May 1982 Spain joined NATO, followed by a referendum after strong social opposition. That year the Spanish Socialist Labor Party (PSOE) came to power, the first left-wing government in 43 years. In 1986 Spain joined the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union. PSOE was replaced in government by Partido Popular (PP) in 1996 after a scandal surrounding the participation of government Felipe GonzÃÆ'¡lez in the Dirty war against ETA; at that time PSOE has served almost 14 years in a row at the office.

On 1 January 2002, Spain fully adopted the euro, and Spain experienced strong economic growth, well above the EU average during the early 2000s. However, concerns published by many economic commentators at the height of the boom warn that exceptional property prices and high foreign trade deficits tend to lead to a painful economic meltdown.

In 2002 the Prestige oil spill occurred with massive ecological consequences along the Spanish Atlantic coastline. In 2003, JosÃÆ' © MarÃÆ'a Aznar supported US President George W. Bush in the Iraq War, and a strong movement against the war increased in Spanish society. On March 11, 2004, an al-Qaeda-inspired local terrorist group of Muslims carried out the largest terrorist attack in Spanish history when they killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800 others by bombing a commuter train in Madrid. Although initial suspicions focused on the Basque ETA terrorist group, evidence emerged soon showing the involvement of Islam. Due to the proximity of the 2004 elections, the issue of responsibility quickly became a political controversy, with key rival PP and PSOE parties exchanging allegations over the handling of the incident. The election on 14 March was won by PSOE, led by Josà ©  © Luis RodrÃÆ'guez Zapatero.

The proportion of Spanish-born foreign residents increased rapidly during the economic boom in the early 2000s, but subsequently declined due to the financial crisis. In 2005, the Spanish government legalized same-sex marriage. Decentralization is supported by much resistance from the Constitutional Court and conservative opposition, as well as to gender politics such as quotas or laws against gender violence. The government talks with ETA took place, and the group announced a permanent cessation of violence in 2010.

The explosion of the Spanish property bubble in 2008 caused the Spanish financial crisis in 2008-16 and high unemployment, government spending cuts and corruption in the royal family and the People's Party became the backdrop of the 2011-12 Spanish protests. Catalan independence also increased. In 2011, conservative People's Party Mariano Rajoy won the election with 44.6% of the vote, and Rajoy became Prime Minister of Spain, having been the opposition leader since 2004 to 2011, and continues to implement the austerity measures required by EU Stability and Growth Pact. On June 19, 2014, the king, Juan Carlos, abdicated to his son, who became Felipe VI.

A Catalan independence referendum was held on October 1, 2017 and then, on 27 October, the Catalan parliament voted to unilaterally declare independence from Spain to form the Catalan Republic on Monday the Spanish Senate is discussing approving the immediate rules of Catalonia as requested by the Prime Minister of Spain. Later that day the Senate gave power to impose a direct government and Rajoy dissolved the Catalan parliament and held a new election. No country recognized Catalonia as a separate country.

src: cdn-image.foodandwine.com

Geography

At 505,992 km ² (195,365Ã, sqÃ, mi), Spain is the fifth largest country in the world and the fourth largest country in Europe. It is about 47,000 km ² (18,000 sqÃ, mi) smaller than France and 81,000 km ² (31,000 sqÃ, mi) larger than the US state of California. Mount Teide (Tenerife) is the highest peak in Spain and is the third largest volcano in the world from its base. Spain is a transcontinental country.

Spain is located between the 26 °, 44 ° and 44 °, N ° N, and longitude 19 Â ° W and 5 ° E.

To the west, Spain borders Portugal; in the south, it is bordered by Gibraltar (British overseas territory) and Morocco, through exclaves in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla, and the peninsula VÃÆ'Ã © lez de la Gomera). In the northeast, along the mountains of the Pyrenees, it borders France and the Kingdom of Andorra. Along the Pyrenees in Girona, a small town called LlÃÆ'via is surrounded by France.

Expanding to 1,214 km (754 mi), the Portuguese-Spanish border is the longest unbroken border within the EU.

Islands

Spain also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and a number of uninhabited islands on the Mediterranean side of the Strait of Gibraltar, known as plazas de soberanÃÆ'a ("place of sovereignty", or territory under Spanish sovereignty), such as Chafarinas and Alhucemas Islands. The peninsula VÃÆ'Â © lez de la Gomera is also considered as plaza de soberanÃÆ'a . The island of AlborÃÆ'¡n, located in the Mediterranean between Spain and North Africa, is also managed by Spain, especially by the municipality of Almeria, Andalusia. The small Pheasant Island on the Bidasoa River is a Spanish-French condo.

The largest inhabited island in Spain:

Mountains and rivers

The Spanish mainland is a mountainous country, dominated by plateau and mountain chains. After the Pyrenees, the main mountains are Cordillera CantÃÆ'¡brica (Cantabrian Range), Sistema IbÃÆ'  © rico (Iberian System), Sistema Central (System Center), Montes de Toledo, Sierra Morena and Sistema BÃÆ'  © tico (System Baetic) highest, 3,478 meters-tall (11,411 ft) MulhacÃÆ' nà © n, located in the Sierra Nevada, is the highest elevation in the Iberian Peninsula. The highest point in Spain is Teide, an active volcano 3,718 meters (12,198 ft) in the Canary Islands. Meseta Central (often translated as "Inner Plateau") is a vast plateau in the heart of the Spanish peninsula.

There are several major rivers in Spain such as Tagus ( Tajo ), Ebro, Guadiana, Douro (Duero), Guadalquivir, JÃÆ'ºcar, Segura, Turia and Minho ( MiÃÆ'Â ± o ). The alluvial plain is found along the coast, the largest of which is Guadalquivir in Andalusia.

Climate

The three major climate zones can be separated, according to geographic and orographic conditions:

• The Mediterranean climate, characterized by warm/hot and dry summers, dominant on the peninsula. It has two varieties: Csa and Csb by KÃÆ'¶ppen climate classification.
  • The Csa zone is tied to an area with hot summers. It is predominant in the Mediterranean and South Atlantic coast and inland throughout Andalusia, Extremadura and many, if not most, of the country centers. The Csa zone includes climate zones with relatively warm and cold winters that are considered very different from each other at the local level, the reason why the KÃÆ'¶ppen classification is often avoided in Spain. Local climate maps generally divide the Mediterranean zone (which covers most countries) between warm winter zones and winters, rather than by summer temperatures.
  • The Csb zone has a warm and unheated summer season, and extends to additional winter-cold areas not normally associated with Mediterranean climates, such as most of central and north-central Spain (eg west Castile-LeÃÆ'³n, northeast of Castilla-La Mancha and northern Madrid) and to many rainy areas (especially Galicia). Note areas with relatively high rainfall such as Galicia are not considered Mediterranean under local classification, but are classified as oceans.
• The semi-arid climate ( BSk , BSh ), is predominant in the southeastern region of the country, but is also widespread in other parts of Spain. It covers most of Murcia Region, southern Valencia and eastern Andalusia, where a true hot desert climate also exists. Further north, it is dominant in the upper and mid-valleys of the Ebro, which crosses the southern Navarre, central Aragon and western Catalonia. It is also found in Madrid, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, and several locations in the western part of Andalusia. The dry season extends beyond the summer and the average temperature depends on altitude and latitude.
• Oceanic climate ( Cfb ), is located in the northern part of the country, especially in the Atlantic region (Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and parts of Galicia and Castile-LeÃÆ'³n). It is also found in northern Navarre, in most of the highlands areas along the Iberian System and in the Pyrenean valley, where subtropical moist variants ( Cfa ) also occur. Winter and summer temperatures are affected by the oceans, and do not experience seasonal droughts.

Apart from these major types, other sub-types can be found, such as mountain climate in areas with very high altitudes, damp subtropical climate in northeastern Spain and continental climate ( Dfc , < i> Dfb / Dsc , Etc ) in the Pyrenees as well as parts of the Cantabrian Range, Central System, Sierra Nevada and Iberian Systems, and typical desert climates (< i> BWk , BWh ) in the Almera, Murcia and eastern Canary Islands. The lowlands of the Canary Islands average above 18.0 Â ° C (64.4 Â ° F) during their coldest month, so it has a tropical climate.

Fauna and flora

Fauna presents a wide diversity that is due largely to the geographical position of the Iberian peninsula between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and between Africa and Eurasia, and the immense diversity of habitats and biotopes, resulting from well-differentiated climates and regions.

Spanish vegetation varies due to several factors including the diversity of aid, climate and latitude. Spain includes distinct phytogeographic areas, each with its own floristic characteristics generated largely from climate interactions, topography, soil type and fire, biotic factors.

src: www.ciee.org

Politics

According to the EIU Democracy Index, Spain is one of 19 full democracies in the world.

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 was the culmination of Spain's transition to democracy. The constitutional history of Spain dates back to the constitution of 1812. Impatient with the slow pace of democratic political reforms in 1976 and 1977, the new King Juan Carlos of Spain, known for his tough personality, sacked Carlos Arias Navarro and appointed reformer Adolfo SuÃÆ'¡ rez as Prime Minister. The general election produced in 1977 collected the Constituent Cortes (Spanish Parliament, in its capacity as a constitutional assembly) for the purpose of drafting and approving the 1978 constitution. Following a national referendum on December 6, 1978, 88% of voters approved the new constitution.

Consequently, Spain now consists of 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy thanks to the Constitution, which remains explicitly stated the inseparable unity of the Spanish nation. The Constitution also stipulates that Spain has no state religion and that all are free to practice and believe as they wish.

The Spanish government approved a law in 2007 aimed at improving gender equality in the political and economic life of Spain (Gender Equality Act). However, in the legislative branch, as of May 2017 only 140 of the 350 members of Congress were women (40%). This put Spain 12th on the list of ranked countries based on the proportion of women in the lower house. In the Senate, there are only 101 women from 263 (38.0%). The size of Spanish Gender Empowerment in the UN Human Development Report is 0.794, 12 in the world.

Government

Spain is a constitutional monarchy, with hereditary kings and bicameral parliament, Cortes Generales (General Court). The executive branch consists of the Council of Ministers of Spain led by the Prime Minister, nominated and appointed by the king and confirmed by the Congress of Deputies after the legislative elections. With the political customs established by King Juan Carlos since the ratification of the 1978 Constitution, the royal candidates are all from parties defending a number of seats in Congress.

The legislative branch consists of Congresso de los Diputados Congresso with 350 members, elected by popular vote on the block list with proportional representation to serve the four-year period, and the Senate ( Senado ) with 259 seats in which 208 were directly elected by popular vote, using limited voting methods, and 51 others appointed by the local legislature to also serve for four years.

• Head of State
  • King Felipe VI, since June 19, 2014
• Head of Government
  • The Prime Minister of Spain ( Presidente del Gobierno , literally President of the Government ): Pedro SÃÆ'¡nchez PÃÆ' Â © rez-CastejÃÆ'³n, elected June 1, 2018.
    • The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidency: Soraya SÃÆ'¡enz de SantamarÃÆ'a (at the office).
• Cabinet
  • The Council of Ministers ( Consejo de Ministros ) is appointed by the Prime Minister.

Spain is structured organisational as so-called Estado de las AutonomÃÆ'as ("Autonomous Country"); this is one of the most decentralized countries in Europe, along with Switzerland, Germany and Belgium; for example, all autonomous communities have their own elected parliament, government, public administration, budget and resources. The health and education system is managed by the Spanish community, and in addition, the Basque State and Navarre also manage their own public finances under legal provisions. In Catalonia, the Basque Country, Navarre and the Canary Islands, full-bodo police corps replace some of the state police functions (see Mossos d'Esquadra , Ertzaintza , PolicÃÆ'a Foral/Foruzaingoa and PolicÃÆ'a Canaria ).

Human rights

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 "protected all Spaniards and all Spaniards in exercising their human rights, their culture and traditions, language and institutions".

According to Amnesty International (AI), government investigations into alleged police violations are often lengthy and light sentences. Violence against women is a problem, taken by the Government to overcome it.

Spain provides one of the highest degrees of freedom in the world for its LGBT community. Among the countries studied by the Pew Research Center in 2013, Spain was rated first in homosexual acceptance, with 88% of communities supporting the gay community compared to 11% who did not.

Administrative division

The Spanish state is integrated by 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities, both groups being the highest or first-order administrative division in the country. The autonomous community is integrated by the province, where there are a total of 50, and in turn, the province is integrated by the municipality. In Catalonia, there are two additional divisions, comarques, and vegueries (singing, vegueria ) both have administrative power; comarques is the aggregation of the municipality, and vegueries into aggregate comarques . The concept of comarca exists in all autonomous communities; however, unlike Catalonia, this is just a historical or geographical subdivision.

Autonomous community

The Spanish autonomous community is the country's first administrative division. They were created after the current constitution came into force (in 1978) in recognition of the right to self-government of the "nationality" and territories of Spain ". Autonomous communities should be integrated into provinces adjacent to common historical, cultural and economic features. This territorial organization, based on devolution, is literally known in Spain as the "Autonomous State".

The legal basic law of each autonomous community is the Statute of Autonomy. The Statute of Autonomy establishes the name of the community in accordance with its historical and contemporary identity, its territorial boundaries, the names and organizations of the governmental institutions and the rights which they enjoy in accordance with the Constitution.

Governments of all autonomous communities must be based on a division of powers consisting of:

• a legislative assembly whose members shall be elected by universal suffrage in accordance with a system of proportional representation and where all territories that integrate territories are equally represented;
• a government council, with an executive and administrative function led by a president, elected by the Legislative Council and nominated by the King of Spain;
• the supreme court, under the Spanish supreme court, who heads the judiciary in the autonomous community.

Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country, which identify themselves as nationality , are given self-government through a rapid process. Andalusia also took the denomination in the first Statute of Autonomy, despite following the longer process established in the constitution for other parts of the country. Progressively, other communities in their revised Statute of Autonomy have also taken the denomination according to their historical and modern identity, such as the Valencia Community, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and Aragon.

The autonomous community has broad legislative and executive autonomy, with their own parliaments and local governments. The distribution of power may differ for each community, as contained in their Autonomy Statute, because devolution is meant to be asymmetric. Only two communities - the Basque Country and Navarre - have full fiscal autonomy. In addition to fiscal autonomy, citizenship - Andalusia, Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia - moved more power than other communities, including the ability of regional presidents to dissolve parliament and call elections at any time. In addition, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Navarre have their own police corps: Ertzaintza, Mossos d'Esquadra and Fora Policena respectively. Other communities have more limited or no strength, such as PolicÃÆ'a AutÃÆ'³noma Andaluza in Andalusia or BESCAM in Madrid.

However, recent amendments to the existing Statute of Autonomy or the adoption of the new Statute have reduced the asymmetry between the powers originally granted to citizenship and other areas.

Finally, along with 17 autonomous communities, two autonomous cities are also part of the Autonomous Country and are the first-order territorial divisions of Ceuta and Melilla. These are two exclaves located on the north African coast.

Provinces and municipalities

The autonomous community is divided into provinces, which function as their territorial building blocks. In turn, the province is integrated by municipio. The existence of provinces and municipalities is guaranteed and protected by the constitution, not necessarily by the Statute of Autonomy itself. Municipalities are given autonomy to manage their internal affairs, and the province is a territorial division designed to carry out State activities.

The structure of the provincial division is currently based - with minor changes - in the territorial division of 1833 by Javier de Burgos, and overall, the territory of Spain is divided into 50 provinces. The communities of Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, the Balearic Islands, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarre are the only communities that are integrated by one province, which is coex- ated with the community itself. In these cases, the provincial administrative institutions were replaced by government agencies of the community.

Foreign relations

After the return of democracy after Franco's death in 1975, Spain's foreign policy priority was to break out of diplomatic isolation of Franco's years and expand diplomatic relations, enter the European Community, and determine security relations with the West.

As a member of NATO since 1982, Spain has established itself as a participant in multilateral international security activities. EU membership in Spain is an important part of its foreign policy. Even on many international issues outside of Western Europe, Spain prefers to coordinate efforts with its EU partners through European political cooperation mechanisms.

Spain has maintained a special relationship with Hispanic Americans and Filipinos. His policy emphasizes the concept of the Ibero-American community, basically the renewal of liberal historical concepts Hisifidad or Hispanismo , as it is often called in English, which has attempted to link the Iberian Peninsula with Hispanic Americans through language, commerce, history and culture.

Territorial disputes

Spain claims Gibraltar, Overseas of the Kingdom Region of 6 square kilometers (2.3 m²) in the southernmost part of the Iberian Peninsula. Then a Spanish city, he was conquered by Dutch-Dutch troops in 1704 during the Spanish War of Succession on behalf of Archduke Charles, who pretended to be the throne of Spain.

The legal situation concerning Gibraltar was settled in 1713 by the Treaty of Utrecht, where Spain handed the territory over to the British Empire stating that, if the British abandoned this post, it would be offered to Spain first. Since the 1940s Spain has called for the return of Gibraltar. The majority of Tasmanians strongly oppose this, along with any proposals of common sovereignty. The UN resolution calls on Britain and Spain, the two EU members, to reach agreement on the status of Gibraltar.

The Spanish claim makes the distinction between the precarious land linking the Stone to the Spanish mainland on one side, and the Rock and the city of Gibraltar on the other. While Rock and the city submitted by the Treaty of Utrecht, Spain insists that "the occupation of the precarious land is illegal and contrary to the principles of International Law". The United Kingdom relies on the de facto proprietary argument of ownership in relation to the isthmus, as there has been "sustained ownership [of the isthmus] over a long period".

Another claim from Spain is about the Savage Islands, a claim not recognized by Portugal. Spain claims that they are rocks rather than islands, therefore claiming that there is no Portuguese territorial waters around the disputed island. On 5 July 2013, Spain sent a letter to the United Nations expressing these views.

Spain claims sovereignty over Perejil Island, an uninhabited small island located on the southern coast of the Strait of Gibraltar. The island is located 250 meters (820 ft) off the coast of Morocco, 8 kilometers (5.0 km) from Ceuta and 13.5 kilometers (8.4Ã, mi) from the Spanish mainland. His sovereignty is disputed between Spain and Morocco. It was the subject of an armed incident between the two countries in 2002. The incident ended when the two countries agreed to return to the status quo ante that existed before the Moroccan occupation of the island. The island is now empty and without sovereignty.

In addition to Perejil Island, the Spanish-controlled area claimed by other countries is two: Morocco claims the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the islands of plazas de soberanÃÆ'a off the north coast of Africa; and Portugal and other signatories of the Vienna Treaty (1815) and their successors did not recognize Spain's sovereignty over the Olivenza region in the Alentejo region of Portugal annexed by Spain in 1801. Portugal's position has become a territory that is de iure Portuguese territory and de facto Spanish.

Military

Number

Source of the article : Wikipedia